In yet another catch-up post, here is the December shipment for the Benevolent Beauty Box! Yet another stellar box, this is a great mix of items that I was super happy to try, including some new indie brands I hadn’t heard of before.

Beautiful Birdie Cosmetics Full Lash Mascara – 7.5 g / $22 – (Product is full size) The mascara came in this pretty organza bag that had a sparkly, multicolored tree print on it. Such a nice touch! The formula is terrific – just the right consistency, and it goes on nice and smooth with no clumps. One coat goes on thickly, but two coats does turn up the volume for a bolder look. This is definitely going right into regular rotation, I really like it that much!

Girlactic Beauty Sparkle Eye Liner – 1 set / $20 – (Product is full size) The set includes one pot of the Black Star Base (4.5 g) and one pot of the sparkle color (2.19 g) which was the “Champagne” color. Tucked inside the box was one of those sponge tip applicators, but this definitely works best with a proper angled brush. The black base goes on first like an eyeliner, then the sparkle on top. The sparkle is a pretty fine cosmetic glitter, so I wasn’t sure it would stick all that well without glitter glue, but it seemed to stay put just fine! I really rather like the combination together and the glitter is honestly so teeny tiny and fine that this is something I’d conceivably wear any day of the week.

Bunny Bath and Body Morning Jolt – 10 mL / $7 – (Product is full size) Three simple ingredients make for a great serum! It’s meant to be used as a wake-up for tired eyes since caffeine can help reduce puffiness. It smells delightfully like coffee and my skin drank it right down. I think this will work really nice as a little bonus moisture serum for those dry corners around my nose too.

Manna Kadar Paradise Pearlized Blush – 3 g / $19 – (Product is full size) A pretty cherry pink with a very subtle pearlescent shimmer. I don’t generally use a lot of blush since I’m a pretty rosy-cheeked to begin with, but I do love this color.

Dirty Lamb Coffee Scrub – 8 oz / $15 – (Product is 4 oz, value of $7.50) My container was only about half full and seemed to have dried up though it didn’t look like it leaked in the box. From reading the description on the product card, it looks like it was water based, so I added a little distilled water to bring it back to life. The smell is lovely – I LOVE coffee, so this is right up my alley, though I could’ve done without the mint scent. Just the coffee please!

Shea Terra Rose Hips Black Soap – 4 oz / $18 – (Product is 1 oz, value of $4.5 by volume) It pours out slowly like a thick, dark molasses. Unlike regular soap, this is meant to be left on the face like a mask for 5-10 minutes and then rubbed and rinsed off with the palms of your hands to help rub away dead skin. I didn’t feel like it did anything particularly amazing or that it even cleansed very well – it didn’t foam, but it didn’t feel like an oil cleanse either. My skin felt a little rubbery and sticky after washing it off thoroughly. My only gripe is that the bottle is far too rigid for the product, so it doesn’t squeeze at all to help the product dispense – you have to sit and wait for gravity to work (or go grab a popsicle stick and scrape some out). Either way, this was fun to try, but I’m not sure this is quite the soap I’m looking for.

The total value of this box comes to $80 which, while on the lower end, is still a great value since the box costs $29.95 per month for a month-to-month subscription. I’m in love with both the mascara and the eye liner set and will definitely use those like crazy. I’ll still use the other items too, but the mascara and eye liner are definitely the stand out products from December’s box. January’s has already arrived as well, so that one should be posting soon!